Transgender Actress Poses Nude to Empower Black, Transgender Communities

Transgender actress Laverne Cox has decided to bare it all for Allure Magazine’s Nude Celebrity Portrait series.

Each year the publication asks celebrities to strip down to their most vulnerable state as a way to celebrate their bodies.

Laverne marks the first transgender woman to appear naked for the mag.

Cox, who has a recurring role on the popular Netflix show Orange is the New Black, admitted she initially had reservations about posing nude.

“Going through life, you try to cover and hide, but it doesn’t really work,” the 30-year-old actress explained. “I said no initially, thought about it, and said no again.”

She continued:

But I’m a black transgender woman. I felt this could be really powerful for the communities that I represent. Black women are not often told that we’re beautiful unless we align with certain standards. Trans women certainly are not told we’re beautiful.

Seeing a black transgender woman embracing and loving everything about herself might be inspiring to some other folks. There’s beauty in the things we think are imperfect. That sounds very cliché, but it’s true.

Cox confessed she also had herself in mind when she agreed to pose for the project.

“I honestly just want to make myself happy most, and if other people like it, then that’s great. If they don’t, then I’m still happy,” she said.

The actress is slated to star in a new transgender-themed CBS legal drama, titled Doubt.